Adult Teching Resources July 3, 2016 Getting On in Glti: Pul s Angriest Letter (My 29-July 3) Living Like You Men It Gltins 6:1-16 Nothing Minor About These Prophets (July 10-31) The Lening Tower of Isrel Amos 7:7-17 Full Pockets nd Empty Herts Amos 8:1-12 A Seriously Broken Home Hose 1:1-10 A Love Tht Won t Let Go Hose 11:1-11 www.nurturingfith.net Subscribe to Nurturing Fith to ccess the core Bible content for this lesson. Find links nd videos relted to this lesson. Nurturing Fith July 3, 2016 1
Living Like You Men It Gltins 6:1-16 FIT Teching Guide by Rick Jordn This dult teching outline is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Before the Lesson: Write on the bord the outline from Scot McKnight found in the informtion session. Fellowship Question Use one of the following to brek the ice, to begin discussion, nd led into the study: One fmily chore tht I m personlly responsible to do is A person I m ccountble to is [Tell the nme nd their role] Informtion One wy to define super-spiritul person might be by their religious hbits for exmple, how mny times do they ttend church in week or how mny hours they spend in pryer or how they hve chosen to live in solitude in monstery. Those my, indeed, be mrks of deeply spiritul person. However, Pul gives us some different mens to mesure spiritulity in his conclusion to his letter to the Gltin churches. He ddresses, wht does it men to be spiritul person in spiritul community? Does spiritul men perfect? If not, how would you define it? Scot McKnight points out tht these next verses ddress two overrching subjects: mutul ccountbility nd personl responsibility. Mutul ccountbility (6:1) Personl responsibility (v. 1b) Mutul ccountbility (v. 2) Personl responsibility (vv. 3-5) Mutul ccountbility (v. 6) Personl responsibility (vv. 7-8) Mutul ccountbility (vv. 9-10) Nurturing Fith July 3, 2016 2
Informtion continued (Scot McKnight. Gltins, The NIV Appliction Commentry. Grnd Rpids: Zondervn. 1995. p. 288.) As we study these verses, let s be wre of this emphsis on both sides of this coin. We re responsible for ourselves for our behvior nd our responsibilities. We re lso our brother s keeper. We re to hold our fellow believers to their obligtions nd we re to tke cre of them when they re in need. Since being spiritul does not men being perfect, we will observe filures even mong the most spiritul of us. [Hve clss member red Gltins 6:1-2.] The Greek word prolmbno is trnslted in vriety of wys. The root mens to tke or in this tense of the verb to be tken. It is only used once in this wy in the New Testment, so trnsltors do their best to give us the mening with limited number of contexts for comprison. Depending on the trnsltion, spiritul person hs been detected in trnsgression (NRSV), is cught (NIV), flls into sin (Messge), or is overcome by some sin (NLT). In this cse, is sin pursuit or hppenstnce? Somehow, fellow Christin hs found themselves cught or trpped or overcome by sin. Of course, this could ffect n entire fith community. Wht re the community s options? (exclude them; mke n exmple of them; force public confession; ignore the sin nd pretend s if nothing hppened, etc.) Pul s ttention is on neither the fllen sinner nor the prticulr sin of tht believer, but on the ttitude of the fith community towrd the one overcome by sin. Pul sys we re to restore the person. The Greek word here (ktrtidzo) hs to do with mending or repiring mking things return to s close to norml s possible. Although Pul does not quote Jesus or the gospels here, we re reminded of wht Jesus sid we should do if someone sins ginst us. [Hve clss member red Mtthew 18:15-20.] How do Pul s words bout speking with the one trpped in sin relte to Jesus words? Wht is Pul s wrning bout the persons who re offering restortion? Some trnsltions offer the perspective tht we might be tempted to do the sme sin. Other trnsltions imply tht the tempttion is to tret the person in wy tht is not bsed on humility nd gentleness. If I mke big production of my generous grce, it will puff up my pride while humiliting the one who needs restortion. Gently, though this is good trnsltion for en pneumtic prutetos (lit, in the spirit of humility ), msks the key word spirit [pnuem] Pul is mking connection here to the fruit of the Spirit in 5:23 ( humility ); he enjoins the Gltins to restore the sinning brother under the influence of the Spirit who provides humility. (McKnight. p. 284.) Nurturing Fith July 3, 2016 3
Informtion continued If we re spiritul community, the fruit of the Spirit will be evident in the wy we tret someone who needs restortion. It will lso ffect how we tret persons who hve burdens tht my be relted to sin. There my be consequences of tht sin tht re too hevy for person to ber lone. They my be physicl, emotionl, reltionl, or finncil burdens. You who re spiritul, then, re to crry one nother s burdens. This is something tht truly spiritul community does. Do you hve ny exmples of tht? (support groups; benevolence help; childcre; etc.) We must envision the restorer s person who undertkes not only to point out problems nd sins, but lso to crry the responsibility of helping tht person become free of tht entnglement. Here we find Pul s theme of mutul ccountbility. (McKnight, 285.) [Hve clss member red Gltins 5:3-5.] Verse 2 sid we re to crry one nother s burdens. Then, verse 5 sys tht ech person should crry their own burden. Is this contrdictory? If not, how do you keep them in sync? The issue is not contrdictory but two sides of one coin. Christins need to help one nother in the struggles of life, but ech Christin will lso hve to nswer to God individully. Prt of tht individul responsibility is crrying the burden of others. (McKnight, 286.) We hve in the next verse the mutul responsibility we hve to finncilly support our leders. [Hve clss member red Gltins 5:6.] How does this verse relte to the ide of bering one nother s burden? (As community of fith, we hve persons who tech nd led us who my be burdened, unble to do wht we sk of them unless we compenste them finncilly for the time they offer in study, proclmtion, service, nd ledership; The techer relieves the ignornce of the pupil; the pupil should relieve the techer of concern for his [or her] subsistence. (McKnight, quoting FF Bruce, p. 286.), etc.) [Hve clss member red Gltins 5:7-10.] The Bible Lesson writer offers us some excellent points bout sowing nd reping. We rep wht we sow. We rep more thn we sow. Do you think this is true for both good nd evil? Wht exmples could you offer? We rep lter thn we sow. We d love to hve instnt grtifiction for the good seeds tht we sow. And, we d love to see evil ctors get their pybck right wy. But, normlly, hrvest for either type of seed tkes time. We re not completely t the mercy of our genetic heritge or DNA, lthough the role of such is fr-reching. We re not helpless before the socil order, lthough its impingement cn be tremendous. For us there is no ultimte libi. Our sins nd their consequences re bsiclly our doing. On the hppier side, we cn choose good; nd good yields its surest nd Nurturing Fith July 3, 2016 4
Informtion continued best rewrds in the kind of persons we become. (Frnk Stgg. Gltins 6:7-10. Review & Expositor. Vol 88 no 3 Sum 1991, p 250.) Even Pul hd to experience this slow hrvest. Sul s encounter with the risen Christ on the Dmscus rod ws conversion, with something like scles flling from his eyes (Acts 9:18). Pul himself explins this s hving come to see ll people with new eyes, just s he hd come to see Christ with new eyes (2 Cor. 5:16 ff.; Cf. Gl. 3:26-29). Even so, he did not gin instnt mturity, s something of the old self persisted. It ws not to his credit tht he rejected both Mrk nd Brnbs in dispute over Mrk (Acts 15:16f.). This is the Mrk credited with writing our first Gospel! This is the Brnbs who stood by Pul in Jeruslem when the church there distrusted him (Acts 9:26f.). Even in Gltins, one of Pul s finest letters, much of the old fire is there yet, s he nthemtizes his opponents (l:8f.) nd even wishes tht the circumcisers perform penectomy upon themselves (5:12). In Philippins, written from jil nd in his lter yers, there is joy nd openness to life or deth, whichever comes. There is not complint s to his privtions. He hs everything nd needs nothing!. Wht mde the yers work for this grying of the mn Pul? Clues pper throughout his writings, s in the mind of Christ which he mde primry (Phil. 2:5-11). Pul understood tht mind of Christ: finding life by losing it (Mrk 8:35), servnthood s true gretness (Mrk 10:42-45), openness to truth (John 8:32; cf. 9:39), nd Jesus secret of inner pece (Mtt. 11:28-30). Pul followed his own dvice, sowing to the spirit nd not to the flesh; nd he hrvested in his senior yers wht he plnted long the wy. (Stgg, 251.) In most of Pul s letters, he ends with expressions of pprecition for certin people in the church nd other more personl comments. He does not do ny tht in Gltins. He is in no mood for niceties. In his lst prgrphs, Pul reviews nd summrizes his key thoughts for this letter. He writes in lrge letters these finl words. (Some scholrs think tht is due to poor eyesight nd others think tht he did not hve the trining to write in smll letters. Others, however, think this is Pul writing with hevy emphsis. If this were n emil, it would be in ALL CAPS!!!) [Hve clss member red Gltins 5:11-18.] Throughout this letter, Pul hs issues with the Judizers (those who believed person must become Jew before becoming Christin). He condemns their messge, their methods, nd even their motivtions. Eventully, he concludes, Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is nything; but new cretion is everything! Living by the Spirit is new wy of thinking nd fresh wy of living. To envision wht Pul is tlking bout, think of person growing up in trditionl villge in centrl Indi. The person s world is divided into Hindu, Moslem, Sikh, nd Christin; into high cste nd low cste. These distinctions shpe the course of one s life, whom one mrries, with whom one ssocites. But suddenly tke the person to trditionl villge in centrl Iow. The person is in different world! The fmilir distinctions re gone; the person must dpt to the new setting. Pul ws telling the Gltins tht they too lived in new world, in Nurturing Fith July 3, 2016 5
Informtion continued which the mrks of the old world hd vnished. (Crig Koester. Opportunity to do good: the letter to the Gltins. Word & World, 9 no 2 Spr 1989, p.189.) This is good illustrtion to point new culture demnds new wy of thinking nd living. Even in the hertlnd of Americ, however, we mke distinctions bsed on gender, rce, economic sttus, etc. Imgine living in world where none of tht mttered in the lest. All re eqully loved by God. All re free from dditions to grce for their slvtion. All re eqully responsible for their own behvior. All re eqully ccountble to one nother. Tht, indeed, is new cretion! Trnsformtionl Exercise For tody s trnsformtionl exercise, I invite you to her the entire text of Gltins 6 red without interruptions. As you listen, consider wht nudges your spirit tody? Wht is the Word of God tht you need to her nd obey? After I red, we will hve time for silent pryer, so you my spek to God bout tht subject. Then, I will close our session in pryer. [Red the text slowly enough tht clss members cn ponder it. Then, sit in silence for minute before closing in pryer something like this: O God, fter 2000 or so yers, you might think we would hve dvnced beyond the issues in this letter. But here we re, struggling with the sme problems. Thnk you for your ptience nd your love. Give us tht ptience nd love for one nother. Amen.] Comments or Questions for Rick Jordn? You my send comments to the lesson pln uthor t rjordn@ cbfnc.org. Rick is lso vilble to led workshops nd conferences on Christin Eduction, with prticulr emphsis on how best to use the FIT Fith model. Nurturing Fith July 3, 2016 6
Digging Deeper by Tony Crtlege Digging Deeper is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. Wtch for the shovel icon in the The Bible Lesson, nd then reference tht item in this Digging Deeper resource. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Restortion Pul ws not the only biblicl writer to spek to the importnt issue of how believers re to relte to brothers nd sisters who do them wrong. The uthor of Mtthew quotes Jesus s providing pttern for reconcilition with one who cuses offense, beginning with personl pproch, then esclting to confronttion with witnesses nd if necessry culminting in discussion before the church (Mtt. 18:15-20). The uthor of Jmes encourged his reders to rech out to fellow believers who wnder from the truth nd bring them bck, confident tht their ctions could sve the sinner s soul from deth nd will cover multitude of sins (Js. 5:19-20). The writer of 1 John ws bit less forthright. When observing brother or sister committing wht is not mortl sin, he sid, believers should pry for them so tht they might be restored. For those committing mortl sin (literlly, sin tht leds to deth ), he wsn t so sure tht pryer would be effective (1 John 5:16). The text of 1 John does not explin the difference between dedly sins nd those tht do not led to deth. One nother Pul dded emphsis to his commnd tht believers ber one nother s burdens by utilizing forceful word order. It is not uncommon in Greek for the verb to come lst in sentence or cluse, but Pul gve stressed the importnce of one nother by putting it first. Literlly, v. 2 could be trnslted Of one nother the burdens ber, nd so you will fulfill the lw of Christ. Bering one s own burden Concerning vv. 2 nd 5, in which Pul first sid ber one nother s burdens but concluded with ech must crry his own burden, we cn note tht the word burden in v. 2 is bros, nd the word in v. 5 is phortion. The words re virtul synonyms, however, both referring to burdens or things tht weigh one down, so Pul is not suggesting tht believers must crry one type of burden lone while ssisting others with different kind of burden. The difference is not in type, but in intensity: such burdens s we cn ber lone, we should ber nd not trouble others with them. When our burdens become too hevy, however, we should not hesitte to seek help from others. And, when others hve burdens too hevy for them, we re to offer our ssistnce. Try to think of res physicl, emotionl, or spiritul in which burden bering or burden shring is pproprite. Consequences One of Bill Wtterson s most memorble Clvin & Hobbes crtoons pictured Clvin being beten up by Moe, the school bully. Crumpled on the ground, Clvin sid It s hrd to be religious when certin persons re never incinerted by bolts of lightning. Nurturing Fith July 3, 2016 7
Digging Deeper continued Reping wht we sow Pul s observtions bout sowing nd reping reflected on the nturl world. As one reps the sme kind of crops he or she hs plnted, so those who sow sinful seed could expect hrvest of corruption nd destruction. There is sense in which we don t need God to condemn us: we do it to ourselves. When we sow the seeds of sin, we rep the hrvest of deth, becuse tht is where sin comes from nd where it leds. Perhps Pul hd in mind Numbers 32:23, which contins the dmonition, Be sure, your sin will find you out. It does not sy, bewre, becuse God will find out bout your sin. It mens just wht it sys: the consequences of sin re inherent in the sin itself. We cn t sow the seeds of lcohol or drug buse nd think it won t bring hurt nd pin to our selves nd to others. We cn t sow the seeds of consistent immorlity nd not expect to hve unwnted pregnncies, sexully trnsmitted diseses, or emotionl turmoil rise to complicte things. We cn t sow the seeds of selfcentered living nd not expect to leve behind row of broken reltionships nd wounded herts. Sooner or lter, we rep wht we sow. Lrge letters Why did Pul cll ttention to the lrge letters of his own hndwriting? Pul ws trined s scribe, so the size of his letters would not indicte the primitive writing of someone unfmilir with the tsk. Some hve postulted tht the physicl ilment Pul described s pinful thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7) my hve been problem with his eyes. Someone with poor vision would be more likely to write in lrge print. Wht s missing Notice wht is not present in Pul s closing tht is commonly found in Pul s other letters: there re no personl words or greetings to specil people, no requests for pryer, no trvel plns mentioned, nd no expressions of grtitude for pst fvors. Insted, Pul resttes the controversy (vv. 12-16) nd sks for no more trouble (v. 17) before closing with brief wish for grce nd pece (v. 18). Pece nd mercy The ppernce of pece nd mercy is unusul. First, the two terms pper in the reverse order of wht we would expect: mercy leds to pece, not vice vers. Also, Pul often mentions pece in his closing benedictions, sometimes long with grce, but not in conjunction with mercy (see Rom. 15:33, 16:20; 1 Cor. 16:23 24; 2 Cor. 13:11, 13; Eph. 6:23 24; Phil. 4:7, 9, 23; Col. 4:18; 1 Thess. 5:23, 28; 2 Thess. 3:16, 18; 1 Tim. 6:13; 2 Tim. 4:22; Titus 3:15; Philem. 25). Nurturing Fith July 3, 2016 8
The Hrdest Question by Tony Crtlege The Hrdest Question is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Wht does Pul men by v. 16, wishing pece nd mercy upon those who will follow this rule nd upon the Isrel of God? Scholrs commonly suggest tht Pul s sttement in v. 15 ( Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is nything; but new cretion is everything ) should be regrded s trditionl mxim, often repeted s confession of fith in kernel form. Thus, when Pul refers to this rule in v. 16, he s speking of the sying tht circumcision nd other Jewish lws do not mtter, only the new cretion. Upon such believers, Pul wishes pece be upon them, nd mercy. Tht seems strightforwrd but wht does Pul men when he dds nd upon the Isrel of God? The hert of the question is whether Pul is referring to two groups of people, or one. The Greek cn be interpreted either wy. If the finl conjunction (ki) is red in the norml sense of nd, he would be wishing pece nd mercy on believers who follow the rule nd on the Isrel of God. If Pul is thinking of two groups, nother option is tht he ws wishing pece on those who will follow this rule nd mercy upon the Isrel of God. A strightforwrd reding of the lst prt of the verse, trnslting ech word in order, would be pece upon them nd mercy nd/lso/even upon the Isrel of God. Since ki cn lso be rendered s even, or in the explictive since of tht is, Pul might hve hd in mind one group described in two wys: those who will follow this rule even the Isrel of God, or tht is, the Isrel of God. If Pul hd one group in mind, he my hve been referring to Gentile Christin believers s the Isrel of God. This is not done nywhere else in the New Testment, but one could rgue Pul hs been mking cse for Christin believers s the true Isrel. He sserted, for exmple, tht from the time God clled Abrhm, pln ws in plce for ll ntions to be blessed through his offspring (3:6-9, 14, 16). He rgued tht in the church, the trditionl ctegories of Jew nd Greek hd been bolished, with ll believers considered to be Abrhm s offspring (3:26-29). In chpter 4, Pul went so fr s to describe the present Jeruslem (the Jews?) s the descendnts of Ishmel through Hgr, nd Christin believers s children of the promise, like Isc, the son of his wife Srh (4:21-31). Some erly church fthers such s Justin nd John Chrysostom interpreted this text to support view of the church s the new Isrel, replcing the old. If Pul hd tken tht position, one would expect him to hve sid so in plces like Romns 9-11, where he writes extensively of Isrel nd the church, but does not suggest tht historicl Isrel hs no further plce in God s pln. Some commenttors hve rgued tht Pul hd in mind ll Isrel, including Gentile nd Jewish believers, while others suggest he my hve been thinking eschtologiclly, of Jews Nurturing Fith July 3, 2016 9
The Hrdest Question continued who would be sved when Christ returns. Yet others think he my hve been speking of believers in Glti who hd resisted the Judizers. Pul hd been rguing throughout the letter, however, tht there is no difference between Jews nd Gentiles in the church. It would seem strnge for him to close the letter by suggesting there re two different groups. Richrd N. Longenecker suggests tht the Isrel of God which isn t used elsewhere my hve been term used by the Judizers to describe themselves s they urged Gentile believers in Glti to dopt the Jewish lw nd become the fulfilled Isrel of God. If this is the cse, Pul s closing remrk could hve been subtle slp t his opponents, wishing pece for those who follow the rule of Christ lone, nd mercy for the self-styled Isrel of God. Or, he could hve been reminding his reders gin tht they did not need nything more thn Christ to be clled the Isrel of God long with ll Jews who believe (Gltins, vol. 41 of Word Biblicl Commentry. Accordnce electronic ed. (Grnd Rpids: Zondervn, 1990), 299). With the lck of nything more specific, it seems best to ssume tht Pul is not clling out seprte group, but including ll who trust in Christ, whtever their ethnic bckground, s belonging to the idel Isrel of God. 10 Nurturing Fith July 3, 2016